Relivin' Lilac: PA Ballet's Sleeping Beauty
Pennsylvania Ballet has kicked off our ’17/’18 season with a bang…..opening with Angel Corella’s Premiere of The Sleeping Beauty. A pure classical and complex ballet that takes a lot of work from everyone involved in the production. Being one of my favorite classical ballets, I was very excited to start working on it. I am quite familiar with this ballet considering I’ve performed it three times and this would be my fourth. We had to start working on it relatively early on since there is such an abundance of choreography and characters.
Just a few days before the first day of our season, casting for Sleeping Beauty had been released. I was certainly expecting MANY corps roles like the Prologue attendants, the garland dance, the Nymphs of the vision scene, and any other walk-ons or character pieces. Although I did receive those, I noticed something jaw-dropping on the cast list. Something I didn’t notice until I started examining it closer. On one of the last columns under Lilac Fairy, there it was…(Sydney Dolan). I couldn’t help but tear up because I could not believe my eyes. My excitement to start working on Sleeping Beauty grew even stronger.
It had been a long couple of months until the show came around. Everyone had been working so hard and there was a lot to be proud of when we finally got to stage. The music, costumes, sets, and dancers were top notch and so inspiring to share the stage with. The day of the special performance came around in what felt like an instant. I surprisingly felt ease and excitement, not only to be performing but to see my parents after two months. I wasn’t as nervous for the dancing as I was for the pantomime, the most vital part of this role. The Lilac Fairy carries the whole story on her back, all of the mime must be so clear in order for the audience to understand what is going on. One wrong arm, head, or even a finger can ruin the flow and cleanliness or the story telling. I made sure to calmly approach every mime and to say the words in my head so the movements were as natural as possible. The other Lilac Fairies Dayesi Torriente and Alexandra Hughes, for example, both experienced, stunning dancers, inspired me with their movement and artistic qualities that this role requires. They demonstrated how Lilac is the queen of the fairies but is very humble and welcoming to both the audience and the other characters onstage. I realized through watching them not to be intimidating, but to be respectably powerful and graceful with their faces and port de bras. It was over all too quickly but I can recall and remember every moment so clearly. There were a lot of firsts, not only for me but for corps members and real-life couple Albert Gordon and Kathryn Manger performing the leading roles of Prince Desiré and Princess Aurora. They are both dancers and people I look up to and I was pleased to share the stage with them. They were exhilarating and surreal and I knew they were very proud. It was a magical day that I will never forget, the show couldn’t have been more of a dream for me.
A few days later, I came across a pleasant yet scary surprise. A review on the matinee I performed in, the very last thing I was expecting. I was almost too nervous to read it, I didn’t want a bad review to ruin the euphoria after an unbelievable show. More importantly the responsibility I had and the impact it could of made in general (even though no one is supposed to read their review haha). I could not have asked for a better first review, it was positive and enlightening for everyone on the stage that day.
Writing this gives me the chance to reflect and learn from this incredible experience. My contemplation allows it to all settle in which fosters my mental state moving forward as we fly through the season, already completing the "On Edge" program where I performed in Alexander Ekman's "Episode 31". Already full speed ahead into George Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" where I'll be debuting as Dew Drop in the Waltz of the Flowers.
